Arab Women Joining Women’s Rights Movement: Revolutions Topple Dictators, But There Remains ‘A Dictator In Every Household’

Daniel 11:37a, “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women …”

By KATHERINE JANE O’NEILL – “More Arab women are joining a women’s rights movement group to demand change and equality.

While revolutions swept through some Arab countries and toppled dictators in all of Tunisia and Egypt, women were still mistreated by both the revolutionists who promised fundamental change as well as regime supporters.

Four females hailing from different Arab states used Facebook to start the ‘Uprising of Women in the Arab World’ movement on October 1, 2011 to lift oppression and break silence and fear endured by Arab women.

Diala Haidar, one of the founders of the woman movement, further defined the movement’s objective and that’s to bring awareness to the region about women rights violations.

Haidar told Al Arabiya that the movement is on to prove ‘women’s rights are equal to that of human rights, and human rights violations are not something to be silenced about.’

The movement which started in Lebanon soon spread to other neighboring Arab countries such as Syria, Morocco, Egypt with Palestine having the highest number of women recruits.

‘We were frustrated to see women protesters were being physically abused or harassed by both the followers of the regime and the revolutionaries,’ said Yalda Younes, another founder of the movement. ‘Not only women’s rights were still not a priority on the list of the revolutionaries, but they were even regressing.’

Since the mark of its first anniversary, the group launched their first campaign urging women from all around the world to upload their photos holding different messages in Arabic to show their support and solidarity to Arab women.

‘We decided to launch a campaign that would put faces to our demands,’ Younes said.

The movement, which was started by four women, who came together from different parts of the Arab world: Haidar and Younes from Lebanon, Sally Zohney from Egypt, and Farah Barqawi from Palestine, was able to recruit people from different backgrounds, age, gender and religions.

‘This shows that in many Arab countries we suffer from the same problems and those problems are rooted in a similar culture independent from political regimes,’ she added.

Haidar also pointed to the cultural and social similarity shared among Arabs.

‘There is a dictator in every household, whether it’s a father, brother, husband or even a son,’ she said, adding ‘women are still looked down at.'” Read more.

NYPD On Alert For Iran-Sponsored Terrorism

By JESSICA SIMEONE – “A terror attack sponsored by Iran is an ongoing concern for the NYPD, Commissioner Ray Kelly revealed yesterday.

‘We’ve been concerned about Iran for a while, and I think the history of those events throughout the world since January give us cause for concern,’ Kelly said during an anti-terror conference called NYPD SHIELD.

Kelly also said that a possible conflict between Iran and Israel is a particular area of concern, given New York City’s large Jewish population.

One issue is the potential for a retaliation attack on New York City by Iran and Hezbollah, said NYPD Lt. Kevin Yorke of the Intelligence Division.

‘Within the last year, we’ve seen a worldwide increase in incidents involving the stockpiling of explosives, the surveillance of targets, and a number of very significant plots and attacks,’ Yorke said.

That increase in activity is in direct relation to Iran’s nuclear-weapons program and the tension surrounding it, Yorke said.

‘Obviously if there’s any action involving Israel and Iran we have to be very cognizant of the potential of retaliation here in New York City,’ Kelly said.

NYPD SHIELD is a public-private partnership that provides counterterrorism training in an effort to protect New York City from terrorist attacks.” Source – New York Post.

Flashback: Los Angeles Police: Terror Plots Linked To Iran And Hezbollah Are Active, May Initiate Attacks If Middle East War Erupts – “Senior police officials on Wednesday warned of potential terrorist attacks in Southern California amid a growing risk of war breaking out overseas… ‘In this region we have active terrorist plots, in this region, right now,’ said Deputy Chief Michael Downing, commanding officer of the LAPD’s counter-terrorism unit.” Read more.

Flashback: Report: There Are Hundreds, Perhaps Thousands, Of ‘Iranian and Hezbollah Terrorists’ Inside the United States – “A recent report by the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security states that there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, people he described as ‘Iranian and Hezbollah terrorists’ in the United States. An alarming part of the officials’ assessments focuses on the apparent surveillance missions that Iranian diplomats and possible Hezbollah operatives have been seen conducting at sensitive targets such as New York City’s subways and bridges, and at nuclear power plants and tunnels elsewhere in the United States in the past 10 years.” Read more.